Lost in the Trees – “Red”
March 2nd, 2012
Operation Every Band caught Lost in the Trees at last year’s 35 Conferette (now 35 Denton) at a late night outdoor set after a night of music and drinking. Afterwards, as we ambled to our cars with our designated drivers we talked about just how good the band was. Were we enamored because we were boozed up, or were they as interesting a group as Kevin and I went on about? We caught them the next week at SXSW and all doubt was gone. The SXSW set was earlier, and singer Ari Picker’s, vocals and the band’s performance were again as dramatically intimate as we had heard at 35 Denton. We chose them as one of our 12 artists to follow and I asked to cover them as my lone non-hip hop act. A year later and my copy of All Alone in an Empty House is my most well worn record. It’s a perfect late night or early Sunday afternoon album, a mixture of heartfelt and dramatic from the first to final track that is rarely found. Ari’s songs are autobiographical and predominantly observational. Rarely does he pick a side in the often conflicting viewpoints in his songs. While the band has always had an experimental edge, a “folk orchestra” I’ve repeated on more than one occasion, their most recent singles and the implied tone of the new album, A Church That Fits Our Needs, appears to be their most exploratory yet. A promo video for the album finds Ari discussing his inspiration for the newest album, his mother’s illness and death, and how he coped and continues to deal with the sudden loss. So a little drunk or not, check out Lost in the Trees at SXSW and see if you find a similar connection to the music. For many acts the norms are a pretense of detachment and transparent fake cool, at least for this listener, the coolest thing a singer and band can do is share their story, warts and all. (Nate)
